Sunqur al-Ashqar

Shams ad-Din Sunqur al-Ashqar (died 1293) was the viceroy of Syria under the Bahri Sultanate. He was one of the most devoted mamluk emirs, and he even tried to proclaim himself Sultan in Damascus during the reign of al-Mansur Qalawun in the 1280s under the name "al-Malik al-Kamil". In 1293, he was executed on the orders of al-Ashraf Khalil.

Biography
Sunqur al-Ashqar was born to a family of Sunni Muslim Turks in the service of the Bahri Sultanate, and he emerged as a leader of mamluks; he was said to have been one of the most devoted Bahri emirs since Baibars. Sunqur was taken prisoner by the Armenians and was later freed in exchange for Leo, the son of King Hethum I of Armenia, who was captured during the invasion of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia in 1266. During the reign of Baibars' son Solmish, he served as the deputy of the Sultan in Damascus. During the reign of al-Mansur Qalawun, he proclaimed himself a Sultan while in Damascus, taking the royal name "al-Malik al-Kamil". He fought a few battles against Qalawun's emirs, but he was pardoned later after he joined Qalawun's army against the Ilkhanate. In 1293, al-Ashraf Khalil had Sunqur al-Ashqar executed as a part of his purges of the Turkish mamluks, as he appointed Circassians to replace the Turks.